Video game systems permitting a user to select, for example, the ability to play five to over twenty video games are highly advantageous in particular environments and applications. A typical home-based video game system, such as Nintendo's popular Wii™ video game console and video game system, involves game play where a user physically places a removeable media, e.g., a single DVD disk, into a DVD disk drive to initiate game play. Typically, if a user desires to play a second game, the first disk must be removed and a second game program disk is loaded in the DVD disk drive.
In an environment, such as a hospital, a patient desiring to play a video game may physically be unable to move with sufficient dexterity to handle multiple DVD disks for playing multiple games. Additionally, in hotel environments, it is not desirable to provide multiple physical DVDs to users.
In accordance with an illustrative embodiment, a patient in a hospital utilizes a wireless remote control to both control game play and to select one of, for example, twenty video games to play without having to be concerned with handling physical DVD disks. The popular Wii™ video game system features a Wii remote controller that advantageously permits a patient to control game play in part through appropriate arm and body motion manipulation of the Wii remote to both enjoy game play and benefit from the rehabilitative exercise afforded by operating the controller. Additionally, an illustrative embodiment may be advantageously utilized in hotel and shopping center environments in which providing users with individual DVD disks is impractical and/or otherwise disadvantageous.
In a hotel context, in an illustrative embodiment, the multiple game playing device described herein includes a network interface permitting internet connection where users may be verified as valid system users. The internet additionally provides a convenient mechanism for downloading games into a high capacity, hard drive media used to store the, for example, twenty plus video games which may be selected for game play by a user.
An illustrative implementation additionally provides a mechanism for internal corporate game developers to send, for example, a video game near completion from one corporate branch to another to securely preview one or more new video games.
In a retail store or shopping mall context, a user wishing to preview multiple video games for purchase may advantageously utilize an illustrative embodiment to sample video game play to determine whether to later purchase a selected video game. Such an approach permits a user to sample a video game without having to handle a single DVD disk.
An illustrative embodiment includes a multiple game display menu that is dynamically updated to permit a constantly changing number of game titles to be selected by a user. In accordance with an illustrative embodiment, the menu generating software queries certain locations on the hard drive to determine what games are presently stored on the hard drive and accesses graphics permitting the user to preview, in some fashion, the game to be selected.
Although prior video game jukebox type systems are known, the illustrative implementations described herein provide enhanced system functionality and a unique, cost efficient, design.
In accordance with an illustrative embodiment, the game playing media, e.g., a DVD disk drive, of a conventional home-based video game system, such as Nintendo's Wii™ video game system, is replaced with an alternative media serving device (for example, a hard drive coupled with associated special purpose logic) in order to convert an existing video game system into a jukebox (adding the ability to play 1 of 20+ games as if it was running off of a single DVD disk). The modified multiple game jukebox system including the hard drive is able to execute video game software designed for execution on the Wii home-based system. The hard drive includes multiple partitions, certain of which correspond to individual Wii video game DVD disks.
In an illustrative implementation, the video game system communicates with such a hard disk drive device using the existing DVD bus, via a particular pattern of disk reads or seeks that are utilized to cause the hard drive to serve alternative data on subsequent disk reads (other than what exists on the currently selected disk).
In an illustrative implementation, a media serving device initially defaults to playing a disk that contains a game selection menu program. The menu permits a user to select one of multiple video games for play, while displaying the game rating to help ensure that the selected game is user appropriate. The game selection menu program dynamically determines how many games are stored on the media serving device. The game selection program generates signals via a particular pattern of disk reads or seeks causing the media serving device to then serve special directory information on the next legitimate read (instead of whatever exists on the currently selected menu disk). This directory information lists the number of games and their corresponding slots on the media serving device
In addition, the illustrative implementation generates game preview graphics for a user to recognize games for selection. For example, in one of many possible implementations, the menu may access unique bitmap art and other related information about each selectable game. This information is held within the media serving device or virtual “disk” of each game and is not accessible through normal reads of the menu disk. The menu program asks the media serving device for this information via a particular pattern of disk reads or seeks. Then on subsequent disk reads, this information is served to the menu (instead of whatever exists on the currently selected menu disk).
In an illustrative implementation, once the menu generating program has the list of games and the information related to each game, it can present the user with a menu of the selectable games. For example, the user may then select a video game, such as Super Mario Galaxy or Wii Sports. Once a game is selected from the menu, the menu program communicates with the media serving device via a particular pattern of disk reads or seeks as to which video game disk should now be active in the disk drive from the perspective of the video game console. The menu then resets the video game system and the console boots up with the newly selected disk to play. When the device is reset again, it reverts to the menu disk and boots it again in order to repeat the process.